Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader

About this issue

This issue of Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader (April 1953, Vol. 1, No. 2) collects eleven science fiction stories. The prominent title piece, "DP!" by Jack Vance, concerns mysterious pale, hairless creatures emerging from a fissure in Austria's Kreuzberg mountains. Villagers, initially terrified, kill several; French occupation forces seal off the area. As tens of thousands continue emerging daily, journalists and scientists arrive to investigate. Experts debate their origins—descendants of glacial-era cavemen, lost tribes, Nazi experiments—while discovering the troglodytes lack words for natural phenomena but possess words for "fungus" and "food" as one concept. Other stories include works by Arthur C. Clarke, John Christopher, John Jakes, and Milton Lesser. The issue features a nonfiction article "A Night on Mars Hill" by Dr. R. S. Richardson and book reviews under "The Space Ark."